Compromise, Care, and Other Stuff
by Victor Vanvid
Summary: Sera and Adaar adjust to living together. This piece stands on it's own, but I plan on following up with other scenarios the two have to work together on. Enjoy, yeah?
1. Early Bird Gets the Worm

Sera sighed in her sleep, a quiet content sound, as she shifted under the sheets, rolling over in hopes of curling up in her lover's arms. However, she found herself leaving dreamland when she was met with a cold empty space, instead of the warmth she expected. This time her sigh was a sigh of annoyance.

The Breach was closed, and Corphy-whatever was dead. With nothing life threatening on the horizon, she and the Inquistior decided it would be a good time to take their relationship to another level. That level being living together. It took a week for the elf's things to find a place in Adaar's room, and a month after that for the two of them to fall in a comfortable routine, she rarely thought about her nook anymore, because their wasn't a better home than the one she shared with Adaar now. Knowing that made her feel a little guilty for being annoyed at the lack of said person beside her. She hugged the taller woman's pillow close as substitute.

Her lover was a morning person, early bird sort of thing. But it was not a "rise as the sun did" early bird sort of thing, which is what Sera assumed when Adaar told her of her preference. Instead if was like the Inquisitor made it a point to never allow the sun to catch her still asleep. So, instead, it was a "rise at ungodly hours" thing, and consequently, a "leave Sera to wake without her" thing. Which is what was annoying the elf currently. She saw no point in this if her mornings did not consist of waking up to the light of her life. She might as well still live in her nook.

Another sigh, this one no longer harsh, at least toward Adaar. She was certainly thinking some rather harsh thoughts toward herself. She could just be thinking unreasonably. Still, the details of her mornings without her love was disheartening. It was always too quiet, and a chill would settle in the air as loneliness settled in her. Plus, the sound of a pen scratching always gave her an infernal headache, and...

Sera's mind stilled as she registered her last thought. Sound of a pen scratching? There is no doubt as to what that sound was, carrying through the air like a whispered secret she desperately needed to hear. Her hearing was not the only sense that was being alerted to a change in scenery. Was that Antivian coffee? Really? Sera finally sat up, scrunching her nose a little at the sharp aroma, leveling her gaze at the source of these things. Her love was settled behind the almost too small and usually abandoned desk in the corner of the room, paper work that Sera hoped was finished scattered about it, with a grin that showed she was happy to see the elf awake.

"Good morning." The Inqusitior greeted, setting down what she had been focused on to give her full attention to Sera.

"Mornin'" She mumbled in response, still a little sleepy, but mostly taken of guard. She noted to herself that the room was warm. "I thought you would be working..."

Adaar motioned to what was on her desk, "I am. But your better scenery than cobwebs, obviously. Just had to move everything up here, that took a bit." Sera nodded to show she understood, and a pause settled over the two of them before Adaar spoke again, "Is it okay? That I work here in the mornings, I mean. I don't want to disturb you."

Sera smiled, "It's more than okay."


	2. You've Got to Take Care of Yourself

Stuff needs a place, this is common sense to Sera. After all, if stuff don't have one, then it gets in the way of more important stuff. With that in mind, the elf makes it a point to keep things in appropriate areas. However, after moving in with Adaar, that was easier said than done. The Inquisitor was a slob.

At first, it was cute, you know? The Herald of Andraste was a little unorganized? That's down right adorable, really. But in the past few weeks, their shared space went from having a sock left out here and there to piles of unwashed clothes scattered across the floor, with their sheets tangled up in them cause they got kicked off during the middle of the night, and important memos torn and crinkled from being tossed to the side or shoved under heavy books that never found their place back on the shelves. Sera was glad she had decided on building a work space in the room's upper level, else it would have been swallowed with everything else, and then she would have nothing to keep her sane in the chaos. Reality slapped her on the cheek with that thought. Sera took up more space than her corner, after all, she shared a bed with the other resident, and her clothes were hung next to theirs as well. Point is, the mess was already invading her things, and it needed to stop before it got worse. Putting aside her Red Jenny duties, the elf followed through with her most logical thought.

The rest of the day dragged on. Time inched by in a painstaking manner that sucked all motivation out of Skyhold. It was no excuse to slack off, however, so she and her advisers spent the hours attending to the mile long list of damage control around Thedas. A minor victory came in the fact that nothing required Adaar to leave Skyhold for at least a week, but by the end of the day, she didn't think that anymore. Between the guests that needed entertainment, recruits that needed training, and Leliana's constant stream of bad news, being on the field seemed preferable. A day of this already had her wanting to drop, what would a week do to her? Sluggishly, the Tal-Vashoth limped up to her quarters and fell against the door as it closed behind her. Staring at the last flight of steps, she sighed, maybe she should just sleep here...

"Buckles!" A small, content smile formed on Adaar's lips, despite wanting to scold herself. Of course those steps were worth it, Sera was up there after all. With the best part of her day waiting for her, she shrugged off of her position against the door to make her way up. Only, she found herself pressed against it again as the elf mentioned dashed down to meet her and pinned her in a kiss, "Have I missed you!" Sera exclaimed as she pulled back.

The Inquisitor hummed in response, making sure to keep the girl close, "I'm sorry. I tried to pop in and see you, but there was just so much to do." Sera only shook her head, that was the last thing she wanted Adaar to worry about.

"Varric mentioned it, something about seeing you run circles around today for the not so holy trinity you got helping you. I get it." She hoped that the smile she flashed as she pulled back reassured her love all was well. It seemed too, Adaar returned it. "But I got something to show you, so don't blank on me just yet." Naturally, the sentence was followed by two hands covering her eyes.

Confusion scripted itself onto Adaar's features, "Is this necessary?" That earned her a giggle in response, "Duh. It's special, so that makes it a surprise, and that means you got to get the full effect of it." She felt that if the girl was not using them to make sure she couldn't see, then she would have emphasized the point with minor jazz hands. Sighing, Adaar let Sera lead her up the steps, wondering what it was that had the elf so giddy. Could she have gotten a gift from one of her Friends? If so, what was it that they got her? She was about to guess if that was the case, when Sera dropped her hands.

Reality was that Adaar knew full well what state their room had been in for a while. She also knew that it was entirely her doing. That made her feel a little embarrassed, and kind of guilty. Her natural response to that was to block it out, ignore it. So instead of cleaning, she simply acted like it was alright, even though she knew it wasn't. Now, though, she was taking in the sight of a spotless room, something she hadn't seen since her first night at Skyhold. "So...do you like it?"

Sera's familiar drawl broke her from her stupor, and she turned her shocked gaze to the elf, "Did you do this or did we get robbed?" Sera had to get through her laughs before she could respond.

"I did it, more or less. Had some help, it was a lot of laundry." Yes, it was, they both knew.

The Inquisitor took a moment to admire the floor she had forgotten about. She was having a hard time conjuring up the image of Sera cleaning, but once she finally got her mind wrapped around the concept, it occurred to her that she should thank the woman. As she opened her mouth to speak though, another kiss cut her off.

The shorter of the two flung her arms around the taller's neck, keeping her there until...well, it was hard to tell why Sera decided there had been enough kissing. Whatever reason, the elf looked nervous when she pulled back, "Sorry." she started, "But we can't just jump into mushy stuff and leave it all flowery. Got to talk about it."

"Flowery? What do you mean?" The question only caused Sera to sigh, maybe it wasn't a good idea to bring it up. The concern in Adaar's eyes made her think differently.

"I mean, this is something we got to talk about. It can't happen again." Should have bit her tongue, that sounded harsh, "Wait, wait, sorry. I mean, it's not the end of the world, but it is a problem. You feel lighter now, right? Like a weight is gone with the mess? Well, there wouldn't have been a weight in the first place if it hadn't happened."

There was a tense pause and Sera felt like she sounded like a fool, especially with the look that was forming on her love's face, it looked hurt, "Shite, I'm bad at this. Listen, keeping things straight is important. Not yourself, don't try to do anything with that, we're fine. I mean, things, like your paper work and your clothes. They need to be in place, they'll get in the way if they aren't. And I know you're busy and stuff, with being the Inquisitior and all. But how will you be able to get any of the big stuff done if you let the little things pile up? That's the point. You're important, you've got to take care of yourself. Important people have to have a stable place to be, to work, or they start making bad decisions cause their place is bad."

There was a blush on Adaar's cheeks by the end of Sera's ramble, and it seemed to be getting brighter by the second. She didn't get embarrassed often, but she was now. Everything the blonde said made sense, obviously, and her guilt for letting it get so bad, along with taking offense before hearing her out, was now eating at her, "You're not bad at this." Adaar felt it necessary to reassure, "I just get too caught up, sometimes. However, you're right. If I ignore little things like this, who's to say I won't stop that behavior in other areas and ignore big things as well? And that's just the tip of the ice burg with the problems that might happen. I'll work on it, I promise. Thank you."

Relief flooded through Sera, along with love, there's never a moment she's ungrateful that Adaar just gets her. "Good, but don't think you'll be going it alone, yeah? I'll help."

A hug and a kiss later, the two went about their routine to retire for the night, and a thought struck the Inquisitor, "Sera, you said you had help cleaning? Who helped you?"

"That's right. Dorian wanted to say you have an 'interesting choice in undergarments'." 


	3. A Nightmare (Sera)

A chill crawled its way into their room. The wind hadn't really been busy that night, but it decided to take a moment and knock the balcony doors wide open anyway, allowing the cold to invade Adaar's and Sera's warm space. It also woke the elf with a start. Suddenly roused from sleep, fear joined the chill, and the only thing that kept Sera from reaching for her knife was her lover's embrace. The days of scrounging for a place to sleep and hiding to avoid being thrown out into the into cold were over. She was home and safe with Buckles. But she was no longer warm. Reluctantly, she forced herself from bed and quietly padded across the room to fix the disturbance. If only she knew how big of a mistake it was to do so.

When the click of a lock reached Sera's ears, her hand fell through the door's handle as if there was nothing there. She had no time to be confused, her feet did the same with the floor. Sera fell, and as she did, the world around her dissolved. Even the sound of wind rushing passed her slowly faded away until she found surefootedness on a non existant plateform, but she could no longer perceive the shadow that had encased her, and she's certain she was going to suffocate. There was nothing there for her to see, to smell, taste, touch, hear...the elf wanted to cry but the tears never came. Or maybe they did, she could no longer feel them, however. Just like she could no longer feel her feet.

Slowly, the plateform she had thought she landed on was gone, but she wasn't falling again. There wasn't any part left of her to fall. The numb feeling had started in her toes, and seeped up until her eyes could no longer widen and hair couldn't stand on end because it wasn't there anymore, even the numb feeling was gone. She wanted to scream, she tried, but there was...nothing. Sera's fear spiked at the gap in her thoughts, the last thing she could feel, her own mind, was dripping away like acid. Dropping from her, falling, bubbling, burning, until fading out before it could be perserved. The last part of her wanted to be angry, but instead it woke the elf with a start.

Hot tears already stained Sera's cheeks. She tried to catch her breath, tried to process that she was even breathing again in the first place. She felt non existant, disassociated from her surroundings. At least they were there, though. Sera stared down the never opening balcony doors until she could see them again, until she felt Buckle's arms wrapped around her again, now tight and protective, while reasurrances and sweet nothings were murmured against her temple. She sinked into Adaar's hold, she was home and safe with her love. Nothing had not taken that from her. Nothing never would. 


End file.
